Sacrifice the Enemy
by Oceansportrait
Summary: Molly and Raven are on the run for murder…how long will they be able to evade the police, and what must they sacrifice to prevent being torn apart?
1. Default Chapter

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Chapter 1

"Get your things, pack only what you'll need." Raven left a suitcase on Molly's bed before beginning to pile all his clothes into another suitcase, emptying out his shelves.

Molly's hand trembled as she began to slowly pack her things, "Where are we going?"

Raven shook his head, causing his dark auburn hair to fall cross his face. "I'm not sure yet, just pack, We'll figure out the rest on the road."

Molly looked around quickly, trying to put in her suitcase only the utmost important items, she knew all her belongings wouldn't fit in the small suitcase. She packed some of her clothes, laying down her diary on top of the rest before zipping the suitcase closed.

Raven nodded over to her, holding out his hand for her to take. She had thought Raven had looked so calm, but now with his hand in hers, she could feel his hand shaking beneath her palm as he shut the door, fumbling to lock the room.

Managing to do the task, they made their way towards the car, only walking after Raven explained to her it would look suspicious otherwise. The doors closed safely, Molly sighing in relief they had managed this far without anyone on their trail.

She rested her head on the window, gazing straight ahead to the darkness and the road. She felt insecure and nervous, she wasn't even sure where they were heading. She was laying her trust in Raven, could she even do so? She reached out to her neck instinctively to finger the ring her father had given her that was looped through a gold necklace…except, it wasn't there.

Molly jolted up immediately, trying to search through her belongings, desperate to catch sight of the sparkle of the gold. Raven noticed her panic, asking her what was wrong.

"My father's ring…I can't find it!"

Raven pulled over, helping her look. A short while after, with no luck of the gold band anywhere, he looked up at her somberly, "We can't go back, you know that."

Molly returned his gaze right back, her blue eyes building up with tears, "Raven, you know how much that ring means to me. It's the only thing left of my father's…I don't have anything else to remember him by! We have to go back."

Molly let herself be embraced by Raven, burying her face into the hollow of his shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent of his cologne and after-shave. She knew she was soaking his leather jacket with her tears, any other day she would have backed away and tried to hold the tears in, but this was almost too much to bear. She was losing the only item she had ever known of her father's love and devotion.

Raven untangled himself from Molly, starting the car again. Through her tear-streaked face, she managed to decipher that Raven was making a sharp U-turn. "Where are we going?" Molly asked quietly, trying to get rid of her tears, though the more she attempted to try to get rid of the tears, more tears formed in their place.

"Be quiet and you'll see." He kept his eyes focused on the road, so Molly couldn't read his thoughts.

She saw the hotel that they were seeing straight ahead, she held a hand against the window, longingly looking at the hotel room where she knew she had left the ring behind. Molly received an even more of a surprise than the events of that night when Raven came to a stop right in front of their hotel room.

Her eyes were almost glued to the hotel room, never losing sight of it, she kept thinking maybe it was a mirage, and if she blinked, the image would disappear. She blinked, and the sight was still there. She was able to tear her eyes away from the vision enough to turn to Raven. "You were driving here all along? Thank you."

Raven dismissed the thanks with a nod, "Be quick, we can't stay long."

It didn't take any more than hearing his words that Molly went into the hotel room, quickly catching a sight of her father's ring on the nightstand. She kissed the golden band, clutching it to her chest, feeling her own heat radiating from the ring before securing it around her neck. Closing the door to the hotel room, she made her way back to the car.

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Chapter 2

"Do you have your bank card with you?" Raven asked, killing the car's engine in front of a bank machine.

Molly nodded, confusion etched into her face. Why would he ask?

Raven noticed her confusion, explaining to her, "We can't get out of here without some money."

Molly and Raven got out of the car, Molly walking up to the machine and punching in a couple of numbers, turning to Raven questioningly.

"Take out 500." He said, pulling out a lighter from his pocket, lighting a cigarette already located between his two fingers.

"Won't we need more?" They wouldn't be able to get far with only five hundred dollars in their possession; maybe at the most it'll take them 50 miles.

Raven looked around before replying, "It'll be too suspicious, we'll use the five hundred to get us as far as we can go until the money runs out. I'll figure out what happens when we do."

Molly concurred, knowing Raven knew about this probably a lot more than she did, even if she knew more, it wouldn't be her place to say so. She quickly finished the task, pocketing the 5 hundred dollar bills into her purse. She only noticed his smoking when they had already returned to the car.

"Raven…" He knew she wasn't too fond on cigarettes or drinking, even when he was, or used to be, until he met Molly.

Raven threw out the lit cigarette out the window, his way of apologizing for the habit. "We better get going, it's better if we are out of here by sunrise."

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Chapter 3

Her eyesight focused, her mind still full of sleep as she slowly took in her surroundings, Raven was still driving, though his eyes weren't as alert as when they first started. She immediately felt guilt for falling asleep, while she was lost in her slumber, he had been driving for hours without a pause.

"Raven, I can drive if you're tired…" Molly offered even though she knew fully that she was horrible at driving, Raven knew of her abilities of driving a car also----he was the one that had helped her learn to drive.

Raven shook his head lightly, his tired dark brown eyes turning to her. "I was planning on stopping at a hotel in a couple of miles once we get out of this highway, highways aren't known for their abundance in hotels."

"All right.." She felt awkward, she was the one that had gotten both of them into this mess and so far, Raven was the only one paying the price.

He must have felt her reluctance, because he took one hand off the steering wheel and placed it on her leg, "It's okay Molly, don't worry about it."

She nodded, closing her eyes and leaning back onto the passenger's seat, her last thought before falling back asleep was "I'll do anything I can do to help.."

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Chapter 4

Raven shook her gently, not wanting to wake Molly up but he knew he wouldn't be able to carry her into the hotel room without raising a few eyebrows.

Molly mumbled something incoherently, her slightly disheveled blonde hair parting, her striking blue eyes radiating towards him with question. He could clearly understand even now why he was attracted to Molly since they were first introduced, and why he put up with the hell to be with her, and even more so now to keep them from being broken apart…

She was tilting her head to the side after several seconds of silence, curiously asking, "Is there something on my face?"

He let his long hair cover his face, feeling relief that both the night and his hair hid his embarrassment. "No, nothing. I was remembering something."

"Remembering what?" She light-heartedly prodded.

He gestured to the hotel's neon sign that stood out like a sore thumb in the pitch darkness with no stars. He hastily changed the subject, "Might as well get into the hotel."

He knew she still wanted to know what he had been thinking about from the occasional glances she kept shooting his way when she thought he wasn't looking. He kept a light grip on her arm as they both walked in, a slightly overweight man who obviously didn't make it a priority to take a shower once in a while shot a bored glance their way as they stepped inside.

"Any rooms available?" Raven asked, careful to hide his face away.

The man laughed hoarsely, it almost sounded like sandpaper being rubbed against a wall. "Around this time of year? Almost _all_ the rooms are available."

Raven nodded, his face neutral, not joining in on the laughter. "We'd like to get a room with two beds."

The man gave Molly an interested look, "What are your names?"

Molly turned to Raven inquiringly. He answered somewhat hesitatingly, "Bill and..Melody..Walters."

The man shot him a strange look. "Okay Mr. _Walters_, your room is 210, down the hall to the left" He handed Raven a key.

Raven without a reply walked down the hall, closed the door behind him and turned to Molly. "This isn't good."

"What isn't? Because you gave him fake names?"

"No. This." He picked up the remote control and turned the small bedside television on to the news channel.

__

"A man is in critical condition after receiving gunshot wound to the chest. From nearby witnesses it has been made clear that a woman and a man may be possibly responsible for this attack. The witnesses have been able to identify the two as the woman being a blonde female, possibly in her early to mid twenties, blue eyes and roughly 5"5' tall. The male has been described as shoulder length dark brown hair and wearing a leather jacket and blue jeans at the time of the incident. The police have not been able to identify the possible suspects as of yet, though an update will be made each hour."

Raven turned off the tv, he knew there were no explanations necessary for what they had just watched.

Molly slid down to the bed in shock, her eyes filling with tears. "They think I did it on purpose don't they? I didn't…I didn't want to kill him I---"

Raven took her by the shoulders, making her meet his eyes. "Listen to me Molly, we're both in on this, it isn't just you, I've become an accomplice by helping you get out of there, there's no way we can go back there without being convicted of murder."

She sniffed, trying to be strong for the sake of Raven. "No, I'll turn myself in, if they ask anything about you I'll just say that you weren't involved…"

"NO." He even surprised himself by how forceful that sounded, he lowered his voice. "I'm not going to let you leave, don't you understand? If we go to jail, you think they'd let us see each other? We can't turn ourselves in, this is the only way for us to stay together." He got up, pacing in front of the bed. "The police work pretty fast, it's a good thing we got out of that town before sunrise, they would have caught us otherwise. I saw the hotel manager's television set while he asked us our names, that's why I panicked. He'll recognize us soon enough…"  
  
Raven stopped pacing, parting the closed curtains and looking outside momentarily before heading towards the door. "I'll be back, you stay here, if anyone knocks, don't answer."

"Where are you—" She didn't get to finish her question before he closed the door.

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Chapter 5

Raven walked back into the hotel room a few hours later, a plastic bag in his hand. Molly sat up, turning the television off as soon as he stepped inside.

"Where were you? I thought you might have gotten hurt.."

He flipped the bag upside down, the contents falling onto the bed. "Here."

She picked up one of the bottles, squinting to read the label. "..hair dye?"

"Bleach." He corrected her. "If we're going to pull this off, we can't have people recognizing us, this should help evade them for a while." Raven tossed to her another one of the hair dye bottles that looked exactly like the one she was already holding. "Want to be a brunette?"

Molly looked at the hair dye uneasily, "Are you sure this is going to work?"

He stopped rummaging through the contents and looked at her, "I don't know. I'll make it work."

He helped her pour the hair dye onto her hair over the sink, watching as her blonde hair slowly turned a dark auburn shade. After he had towel dried her hair, he took her over to the mirror to let Molly look at herself.

Molly's eyes widened at the sight. It was…different. She had always been a blonde, Cousin Holly never did believe in items that changed one's appearance. She liked her blonde hair better; but then again, she didn't really have a choice on that.

While Molly was distracted, Raven had dyed his hair a blonde shade. She could hear the water running as the excess bleach washed away down the drain. She wondered what hair color Raven had used, when he stepped out of the bathroom, she was surprised to find he had dyed his hair blonde.

"R-raven.."

He seemed somber, "Don't say a word, it's not supposed to look good, it's just supposed to change what I look like."  
  
"..I was going to say it looked nice." She wasn't lying, it was going to take a while to get used to a blonde-haired Raven, but the hair complimented him nicely.

She noticed now he had a pair of scissors in his right hand. "Why do you have scissors with you?"

"You'll have to cut my hair, it will be uneven otherwise."

"Raven…" Molly knew he hadn't grown out his hair just to chop it all off, she loved his hair, it was what had first caught her eye.

"Do it."

She slowly reached out to take the scissors, "..You don't have to.."

"Yes I do, hair will always grow back, my life won't. Life is more important." She could see he was fighting an inner turmoil within himself, for so long he had found faith in knowing his hair would cover his emotions, it had become a part of him along the way.

The scissors touched one of his bleached blonde curls, she started to lower the scissors, deciding to tell him she wouldn't be able to do it..except the look Raven shot her made her consider otherwise.

She closed her eyes tightly as she closed the scissors on the first curl, opening her eyes as she watched her hands mechanically cutting the hair away onto the ground. Her tears fell onto the back of his head, she knew he felt the liquid droplets because he lifted his head for a moment before turning back.

She managed to cut his hair about a few inches, it was the most she was strong enough to see go.

He picked up the pieces of hair she had cut off from the floor, throwing them in the garbage. He walked to his bed, covering himself with the blanket. Molly could hardly see a strand of blonde hair as he pulled the blanket over himself.

Molly had got into her own bed as well, though after few seconds of silence, she quietly got up from her bed, shuffling over to Raven's bed, lifting the covers only enough for her to get in. She hugged Raven's frame as much as she could. Raven turned to face her, only then did she see his tears. She brushed his tears away, murmuring reassuringly to him, embracing him again as they both fell asleep.

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Chapter 6

"Molly, get up. Get up." Raven shook her roughly, while shoving his clothes and the bleach into a bag.

Molly awoke, her vision still blurry from the lack of sleep. "What's going on Raven?" Her vision began to clear as she heard sounds coming from what seemed right outside their window. "The police.." It didn't take a more wake up call than that to get her right out of bed, grabbing what pieces of clothes she had taken out of her small sports bag.

"We can't go out of the front door, but there's a window by the bathroom, we can go out that way, then get a ride."

Molly nodded, feeling numbing fear take over her body, she was surprised she was able to get her legs to move as she climbed out of the small bathroom window. Raven had gone out of the window first, helping her. He instinctively grabbed her hand, pulling her along as he looked left and right before crossing the street. He held a thumb out towards the road, surprisingly a truck passing by just at that moment.

They got into the truck, watching in relief as the siren sounds and the police cars piling around the hotel started fading away. The trucker gave a curious glance at them asking, "What are you two doing hitching in the middle of the city? Not a safe place to hitchhike you know, it's a good thing I came along."

Molly sent the man a grateful smile, "We had a sudden change of plans, and we couldn't hitch a ride, that's why we were in there. Thank you for stopping, I thought we'd be waiting out there for forever."

Raven nodded in agreement, though inside he was thinking, there was something strange about the man, he wasn't sure what, it was probably nothing, but there was just…he should forget about it. They had a ride, that's all that counted. Raven put an arm around Molly, whispering to her to get some sleep, it was going to be a long day.

And she did.

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Chapter 7

Molly felt the warm sun shining down on the side of her face as she awoke, lifting her head. She glanced down at Raven who was in a deep slumber himself, she shifted his arm off of her shoulder, knowing his arm probably went numb hours earlier.

"You up?" The trucker asked, giving a side way glance at her.

She smiled warmly, "Yes."

"What are you two kids doing hitchhiking in the middle of the city? And with a pretty little thing like you, you two could have gotten hurt."

"Thank you for your concern, …my boyfriend and I weren't sure how much money it would take to get to his aunt who's fallen sick in Nebraska, we had to resort to hitchhiking when we ran out of money to take a train," Molly explained, she was surprised how easily the lie rolled off her tongue.

The trucker nodded, "Well I'm not heading to Nebraska but there's a nearby city that I can drop you two off at where you can find a short route from."

The trucker glanced sideways to see if Molly was listening, only to find Molly fast asleep, her head resting on Raven's shoulder.

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Chapter 8

Raven awoke to darkness, his eyes adjusting to the dark, he watched observingly as the truck passed by the small high way lights aligned alongside the highway. He gently shook Molly awake, knowing if she slept any further, she wouldn't be able to get to sleep the next day.

"Mm.." Molly snuggled up against Raven, relishing the warmth he gave off.

"Molls," Raven whispered.

"Mm..Raven?" One blue eye showed beneath her blonde curls, curiously asking why he had woken her up.

"You've slept all day, it's better to be awake now than to not be able to fall asleep." He explained.

Molly nodded, resting her head on Raven's shoulder.

The trucker stopped the truck a few minutes later, facing Raven, asking, "Hey, mind going and buying some food from the convenience store? I have to keep the truck running, it won't start back up otherwise."

Raven studied the trucker suspiciously before nodding. Molly instinctively grabbed onto Raven's arm, asking if she could come with him.

"I'll be back, nothing will happen." Raven reassured her before stepping out of the truck, crossing the street to the convenience store to buy the goods.

"Move up to the front," The trucker suggested, tapping his hands on the wheel to a song playing on the radio.

"Um…okay…." She glanced at the convenience store that Raven had gone to as she moved to the passenger's seat, uneasily sitting down, not settling herself because something told her to stay alert.

The next few seconds came as a blur to her, but the next thing she knew she had swung the truck door open, stumbling out onto the cement floor beneath her. Raven, stopping right out of the convenience store in confusion at seeing Molly outside, but he was able to piece the puzzle together----the man still inside, Molly on the cement floor with tears streaming down her face.

An immense anger built, he hurried over to Molly, dropping to his knees asking if she was all right, even though she numbly nodded yes, he didn't believe her. Whispering to her to stay where she was he got up, fully intent on beating the life out of the man when he saw the truck was driving off. He ran after the truck for a couple of steps before halting, knowing he could never catch up with it. Instead, he picked up a fairly large rock, weighing it in his hand before releasing it in the direction of the truck. Raven could hear something breaking, then the right taillight of the truck going dark.

He walked back to Molly, embracing her, saying to himself more than to her, "I should have stayed, I should have known not to trust him…did he, did he---"

Molly shook her head no, "I managed to get out of the truck before..he could attempt anything. Oh Raven.." She sobbed. "I was terrified, I'm so glad you came just in time."

"I didn't come quickly enough, if I had taken less time in the store, I could..I could have prevented all of this.."

Molly cupped his chin, making him look at her, even with tears streaming down her face she could make out the guilt on his face. "Listen to me Raven, he would have found a way to catch me alone, you couldn't have stopped this, just..just..please Raven, hold me..just for a second."

Raven took her into his arms, rocking her gently as she let her pent up feelings be released.

TBC…

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OOC Note: So what do you all think? Yes this is what I've been working on for the past two weeks while I was living with no internet, LOL. I have the second part already half finished, hopefully I'll have it up by no later than next Saturday. Criticism is welcome, I would always like well thought out criticism so I can retrace my steps and see what I did wrong :)

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	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 9

"Come on baby, stopping at the motel will give you time to rest, and since we can't hitchhike.." Raven shuddered, not only from the cold but from the incident that had happened, if he ever came across the man again, he wouldn't be responsible for what happens.

Molly sniffed, "Please..I can walk farther, I promise.." She was leaning most of her weight on Raven, the day exhausting her, it was clear she couldn't walk much more. She let out a silent cry as she lost her footing, Raven caught her.

He surveyed the darkness around them, they were at the edge of the road, near the city, he could see the lights far back. His eyes focused on a bridge, he said, "Molls, we'll rest under the bridge, there's no way that you.." Molly opens her mouth to protest, but he wasn't up for a negotiation. "..Or I could get very far without sleep."

He helped her find a place to lie down on the cold cement, with no regards to himself, he took his leather jacket off, wrapping the material still warm with his body heat around Molly.

Molly looked up at him, her eyes seemed old somehow, the only light in her eyes were of hope. "We'll get through this won't we Raven? I didn't mean to kill him.."

He embraced her closer, wishing some of that hope would rub off on him. Kissing the top of her hair, he replied, "Anyone who matters would know what you did wasn't out of intention."

Molly fell into a restless sleep afterwards.

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Chapter 10

Lita brushed one of the red locks that had made its way onto her forehead aside; a look of annoyance flashing as another strand came loose.

"I always did tell Bob to fix the waitress outfit but does he _ever_ listen?" She muttered good naturedly to herself, she didn't hate Bob, the manager of the diner she worked full time at. Just the opposite, Bob was almost like a father figure rather than her boss.

She had been working full time since graduating high school; her parents couldn't afford to send her to college. Back when she had first graduated, it had bothered her that she couldn't live her dream to go to college and study fine arts, though now that she had been working at the diner for a little over a year, that dream was a distant memory.

"Hey Lita, more coffee?" A regular at the diner called out from the other end of the diner.

Lita's face formed into a smile, yelling back, "Yeah yeah Eric, next time think you'd be man enough to use the word 'please'?" She joked as she brought the coffeepot to the dark haired man, pouring him a cup.

"Aww Lita you know I hate using that word!" His eyes twinkled in mischief.

He and Lita went a long way back, in the small town that she lived in, most of the people she had gone to kindergarten with, were with her throughout high school, Eric was one of them. She never really figured out why Eric never left the small town, he was a talented architect, he would have gone a long way if he had gone to a big city. Though since a young age, she knew it wasn't her place to question other people's actions. She was glad he stayed, most of their high school classmates had gone on to college or were spread out throughout different parts of the country.

Her almost unnoticeable southern accent was apparent as she messed up Eric's hair, laughing out, "You just keep on telling yourself that Eric."

Just then, the diner entrance door opened, the ringing sound of the bell placed at the door heard. She lifted her head curiously towards the direction of the entrance, usually afternoons were deserted. Lita saw an auburn haired woman and a blonde haired man who wore a leather jacket. She raised a silent eyebrow, wondering if the man was one of the bikers who caused trouble in town while passing by.

The two had taken a seat at the booth, so she grabbed menus from the counter and headed their way. She took out a pen from her apron and placed it on her ear, smiling at the strangers as she approached them. "How are you two today? Anything you'd like to drink to start off with?"

"A coffee…and orange juice." Raven said after he had asked Molly.

"Okay..anything else?"

Molly shook her head, "No, that'll be all thank you."

As Lita walked back to the counter she was even more intrigued at the strange couple. The blonde haired man couldn't be a biker, he was too soft spoken and thoughtful looking for one, and the brown-haired woman had beautiful eyes, though one thing she noticed was that her blue eyes were tinged with..sadness? She laughed and waved her thoughts away, she had been known to jump to conclusions without getting the full story, why would the auburn haired woman be sad?

She picked up the drinks and brought them over to the table, placing the orange juice in front of Molly and the coffee to Raven. "So are you two just stopping here to rest before heading back on the road?" Lita slightly blushed; she could hear how nosy that question sounded. "I'm really sorry..It's just hardly any visitors come to the town, let alone any new residents."

Molly took her gaze off from her orange juice and looked up at Lita. Lita looked friendly, like someone she might have been friends with if given the chance. She lowered her eyes again, she knew making friends would be dangerous, she might unknowingly say something to give them away. She shot Raven an expression of surprise when she heard him say; "We saw the sign outside about the diner looking for a kitchen helper and a waitress."

Lita brightened, she had been reluctant when she heard Bob had wanted to hire more people, she didn't get along too well with many people. The last waitress that had been hired at the diner was fired after a fury of words were exchanged between the waitress and Lita. Though judging from the woman's appearance and demeanor, she seemed pretty nice. "Oh, I'll be right back, I'll get Bob." She disappeared towards the back.

Once Molly was sure the waitress was out of hearing range, she whispered to Raven, "What are you doing Raven? I thought we were only here to get something to eat then head on?"

"This is a small town, we can work, save up some money, head out before the police find us. The police wouldn't even think of checking a small town such as this, they would consider it a waste of time."

Molly opened her mouth to say something, but Lita and her manager neared their table just then. She sent Raven a look that said, "We'll talk later."

A man in his mid fourties stepped forward, shaking hands with both of them. "Well Mr…?"

"Bill Wellington, and she's Cordelia Brown."

"Well then, Mr. Wellington would you like to step inside my office first to talk over a possible job position here?"

Raven nodded silently, getting up and following the man towards the back.

Lita felt Molly's uneasiness, she sat down on the seat next to her. "Don't worry Cordelia, as long as Bill over there agrees with everything Bob says, you two've got the job handed to you." She smiled. "So where are you two from? You certainly don't look the people around here..I meant.." Lita guiltily tried to correct herself, her mouth always got her into trouble.

Molly shot Lita a small smile. "It's okay, I know it's not the easiest thing in the world to make introductions. ….Bill and I are from…Michigan."

Lita perked up at the name of the place, "Oh! I have an aunt that lives there! What part of Michigan?"

"Um.." Molly wasn't as good at making up lies as Raven, she had only said out loud the place she had first thought of when Lita had asked. "Er..you've probably never heard of it."

She tilted her head in silent confusion, "Um..okay. Would you like something to eat? You look pretty hungry."

Molly shook her head lightly, "No, Bill and I spent all our money just getting here.."

"Don't be silly, I'm sure Bob will hire you two, and even if he doesn't he won't notice a little bit of the sandwiches gone." Molly opened her mouth to tell her it was okay but Lita had already disappeared to the back, reappearing with a plate of sandwiches and in her other hand a cup of hot chocolate. Lita sat back down beside her after putting the plates in front of Molly. "I noticed you were eyeing the hot chocolate when you came in, so I thought you'd like a cup."

Molly's eyes glimmered with appreciation. "Thank you.."

Lita laughed, waving off her thanks. "You'd think that I just gave you a glass of water while you were dying of dehydration or something. It's no problem, a little tweak every now and then won't hurt, especially since I've caused a lot worse trouble here."

"Trouble?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Yelling at the other waitresses---but it was always for a good reason."

Molly giggled. "Seems like working here must be lots of fun."

"Yeah it's a bundle of joy," She said sarcastically. "And I'll be nice to you since you're not one of those bubble headed blonde bimbos that Bob hired last time."

"Blonde bimbos?"

Lita blushed. "I meant..bimbos in particular, not blonde people..I mean, you seem very—"

Molly laughed, "It's okay Lita, I know you didn't mean it like that."

They both looked up as the owner of the diner and Raven stepped out of the small office. Lita took one glance at Raven and leaned in to whisper to Molly, "He's got the job."

"How can you tell?"

Lita's eyes twinkled. "Bob's grinning like an idiot, it doesn't take a genius to figure out, good luck." Lita momentarily squeezed her hand in a friendly matter, giving her a light shove in Bob's direction.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 11 

He glanced above the low shelves of the convenience store, nervously sliding his watch back and forth on his wrist. His eyes shifted towards the counter; somewhat relieved to see the man paying no attention in his direction, a newspaper held up so it covered his face. His gaze rested on the vast array of food items lined up neatly on the shelves, feeling the emptiness in his stomach from not having had any food in the past few days. He'd never stolen before, but now, he would rather steal than die from starvation, the two choices left him very little options.

His hand shook slightly as he reached for a package of bread, shoving it under his shirt. He could hear the accelerated beating of his heart as he ran out of the convenience store, he heard the yelling of the man who had been sitting at the cash register minutes before, he didn't turn back, for fear that the man would be able to catch up to him.

He turned a sharp corner, slowing as he jumped down a couple of small rocks, crawling under a small cement cover. As he reached the mouth of the bridge, he felt his chest tighten, a familiar panic taking over him. He tried to get his breathing under control as he half-stumbled, half-walked to where he had hidden his guitar. Unclasping the straps, he picked up his inhaler that he had put for safe-keeping beneath the guitar, he breathed in deeply from the inhaler, relief washing over him when he felt his heart return to its normal pace.

He had had asthma since he was a child, he never knew it would be such trouble until he had started on his journey, he silently cursed at himself for not bringing his inhaler with him, another minute longer and the results could have been fatal..

He rested a few seconds on his guitar, leaning most of his weight onto the instrument case. He traced the guitar in his hand lightly, as if it were a priceless jewel. For a long time, his guitar had been his savior, the one thing he could depend on to never change. His vision blurred, sadness washing over him. He held the guitar for a few more minutes before slowly getting to his feet, laying the guitar gently into the velvet lined case, closing the clasps.

Shoving his inhaler into his back pocket, he hooked the long strap that held the guitar together on his left shoulder. As he walked down the street, he knew he made a strange sight. With his ragged blonde hair streaked with dirt to his faded corduroy jacket, he stood out like a sore thumb in the small town. It didn't bother him though, he didn't plan on staying, he had stopped at this town for one reason. His hand clenched instinctively on the guitar.

He didn't look up until he reached the right street, glancing up to read the dark neon green sign that spelled out "Pawn Shop". The light in front of the door flickered on and off, he would have thought that it was closed, except there was a large open sign hanging on the door.

"This is it buddy, I'm sorry I have to do this.." His blue eyes filled with tears, the salty-liquid spilling silently down the ground, leaving light stains on the cement floor. If he felt there were any other ways of staying alive, he would have gladly gone down that road, but when he weighed the choices, finding his father was more important than his guitar in the long run.

Her mother had told him the guitar was the one item his father had left for him when he had disappeared one morning. He didn't even remember that day, her mother said he had been crying. His guitar was the only memory he had of his father, but he wouldn't need it once he exchanged it for the real thing. Deep down, he hoped that his father wasn't the man his mother had described him to be—always staying out instead of taking care of him and his mother, gone for days and coming back without an explanation.

In a way, he guessed he wished that his father had changed his ways, a person always has a chance in changing their ways, it would be cruel of him to judge him when he didn't even remember him.

His curiosity about his father had always been there. Sometimes, when her mother thought he wasn't looking would stare at him strangely, as if caught in a beautiful memory. Her mother had remarried since his father had walked out on them, and they had moved, halfway across the country. At nights clear as tonight, he often stayed awake, a vast array of questions running through his mind.

Had his father tried to find them but found he couldn't because they hadn't left a return address? Did his father know where they were, except was too afraid to come?

He took a deep breath, opening the Pawn Shop door; a bell attached to the door ringing as he stepped inside. He unstrapped his guitar from his shoulder, carrying it the rest of the way. Placing it on the glass case, he glanced around expectantly. A man appeared from behind another door in the back of the shop. He was a stout man, his hands grubby as if he had dipped his hands in grease before coming out to greet him.

"Hey." He said, standing behind the guitar nervously, he shoved his hands into his pocket because he didn't have any place else to put them. "I'd like to sell my guitar."

The man walked over to the guitar, placing a hand on the clasp and opening the case. He almost cringed, he hadn't let anyone touch the guitar when it was in his possession, especially not someone with hands that were dirty as his.

"I'll give you 50."

His head jerked up in surprise, "This guitar is worth more than 50, I've had it for a long time but it's like brand new."

The short man looked at him with weary eyes. "Listen kid, guitars aren't worth much no more. I'll give you 75 for it, you won't be getting that much from any of the other shops around here."

****

Chapter 12

Lita strummed a few chords of her guitar, taking interest in a particular chord that sounded melodic to her, she scribbled down on a piece of music paper the chord, lining it together with the other chords she had hastily written down over the past few weeks. She stuck the pen back on top of her left ear, strumming the chords together to see if they synchronized properly when a knock on her door broke her concentration, her pen falling from her ear and onto the carpet soundlessly.

She got up, walking over to her door still wearing her nightgown since it was ten o'clock at night, she hadn't planned on staying up any later than 11. Thinking it might be Jeff or Matt, back from their wrestling tour, she swung the door open, smiling excitedly. Her smile faded when she saw it was Raven, her faded smile replaced with a sudden pounding in her heart.

Raven glanced behind her, as if trying to look for someone.

She stood awkwardly at the doorstep, her hand gripping the doorknob painfully. She managed to get her hand away from the doorknob, wrapping her bathrobe closed when she realized it was open. "Bill..hi."

Raven looked at her without recognition in his eyes, though that changed several seconds later. He nodded at the greeting, asking in return, "Is Cordelia here?"

Lita shook her head; one of her red tendrils of her hair came loose, draping casually over one side of her eye. "Cordelia was going to come pick up something of hers that she left here for safe keeping…would you like to stay here until she comes?"

Raven's eyes flickered to her face momentarily before dropping to the ground again. There was something about Lita…that was different, and it disturbed him. Something in her eyes, the way she walked, the way she acted, that screamed desperation, of hopelessness. He recognized the feeling only because he had felt them himself.

He followed Lita into her apartment when she held the door open for him, he hadn't wanted to spend more time than he needed to in the same room as Lita, but his knowledge as to Molly's whereabouts meant more to him.

Lita sat down beside him on the couch, jumping up nervously a second later. "I'll get us something to drink, what would you like? Coffee? Tea? Juice? I could make a smoothie—"

"Coffee's fine."

Lita walked into her small kitchen, opening the necessary cupboards to make the coffee, as she let the water boil, her mind wandered over to Bill who was still in her living room. She felt a queasy feeling in her stomach; she hated the attraction she felt towards Raven. She had done everything she could to bury the attraction, for Cordelia, if for anyone.

She clenched and unclenched her fingers, wishing she had never invited him inside. She should have known her attraction towards him couldn't be buried so easily. She didn't let the water boil, stopping the process midway, pouring a spoon of coffee mix.

She held the cup in her hands, watching the powder and liquid blend together in a hazy brown. She took a deep breath, reassuring herself nothing would happen, he couldn't possibly return her feelings, he loved Cordelia. She made her way back to the living room, holding the coffee for Raven to take. Thinking he had grasped the mug, she released the container, the glass catching the edge of the table, the contents spilling onto the floor, not only on the carpet, but a section of Raven's shirt.

Lita winced; getting up and rushing back quickly with a red towel, apologizing profusely while she tried to wipe the coffee stain from his stomach. "I'm so sorry, I thought you already held the coffee—"

Raven gently took Lita's hand off of his chest, "It's all right, I was never too fond of this shirt."

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, if he had been with anyone but Cordelia…..God, she wondered what his kiss was like…She hated being the obedient girl from a small town, good grades in school, never breaking the rules, never taking the risk to discover who she really was. For once, she wanted to feel loved, for once; she wanted to be the girl with the most cake, was that too much to ask for? All she wanted was one reason to be beautiful….

There had always been a strange look in Bill's eyes; she now realized what it was. It was sadness, telling her to stay away. Just one time, just once…to be held..to be loved…she expected no relationship to take place; all she wanted was this one night…

TBC…


End file.
